SPIO-enhanced MR imaging for axillary staging to avoid sentinel node biopsy in patients with breast cancer.

1103 Background: We previously demonstrated the usefulness of SPIO-enhanced MR imaging for the detection of metastases in sentinel nodes localized by computed tomography (CT) lymphography (CT-LG) in patients with breast cancer (Ann Surg Oncol, 2011). These techniques have evolved and we report our most recent results of axillary staging using them. Methods: Previously unreported 87 consecutive patients with breast cancer and clinically negative nodes were enrolled in this study. Sentinel nodes identified by CT-LG were evaluated prospectively using SPIO-enhanced MR imaging. A node was considered non-metastatic if it showed a homogenous low signal intensity and metastatic if the entire node or a focal area did not show a low signal intensity on MR imaging. Sentinel nodes located by CT-LG were removed, and imaging results and histopathological findings were compared. Results: The mean patient age was 54.9 years (range, 34-77). Sentinel nodes were identified by CT-LG and removed successfully in all patients. ...